European Council

Keith Vaz Excerpts

Thursday 26th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

It is always a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood) who, in his 25 years in this House, has always been strong and consistent in his criticisms of the European Union.

I add my voice to all those who have spoken in favour of there always being a senior Minister at the Dispatch Box to introduce a debate such as this. When the right hon. Gentleman was a Secretary of State, the Minister for Europe in that Government wound up the debate, which would have been started by the Foreign Secretary, and when I and then my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) served as Minister for Europe, this debate was considered an important opportunity—perhaps the only opportunity—for Back Benchers to influence the Government as the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Europe went to European summits. I therefore hope the first message the Government will take from the debate is the unity of opinion in the House—I have not heard a single opposing voice—that this should be a debate in Government time, with Members not limited to five minutes in which to state their views.

My second point is to ask the Minister to tell us when he winds up what has happened to the Lisbon strategy. It was agreed at the Lisbon summit in 2000 as part of the Lisbon agenda, developed over 10 years and adopted very recently with a set of five headline benchmarks. Does that strategy still exist, given the eurozone crisis? Are the Government still committed to delivering in those five areas—employment, investment in research and development, education, poverty and greenhouse gas emissions—which were set at the first ever summit to benchmark EU economic policy? Are we on track to do so? I get the feeling from discussions that I have had and from the responses to questions I put to Ministers, including the Prime Minister when he returned from the last summit, that although there is an intention to support the Lisbon strategy, it is certainly not high up on the Government’s agenda. I think that, given that this informal meeting is about growth and jobs, it is extremely important that we have benchmarks for the EU.

My third point is about EU enlargement, of which I am a great supporter. It has been of great benefit not only to the eastern European countries that have joined but to our country in particular. Croatia is due to join in July 2013. The EU has given Croatia €150 million to support its entry, and it will give another €150 million this year and €95 million next year. Will the Minister tell us whether that is the final figure; whether there will be any increase or, because of the euro crisis, any decrease in the amount we give Croatia; and whether that will continue after Croatia joins the EU?

This is a very short debate and we have to make very short speeches, but if those three points can be conveyed to the Prime Minister when he attends the summit and if the Minister can indicate the Government’s position when he winds up, I am happy to conclude my remarks now.